Methane emissions from anaerobic ponds on a piggery and a dairy farm in New Zealand

Abstract

Over 1000 anaerobic ponds are used in the treatment of wastewater from farms and industry in New Zealand. These anaerobic ponds were typically designed as wastewater solids holding ponds rather than for treatment of the wastewater. However, visual observation of these uncovered ponds indicates year-round anaerobic digestion and release of biogas to the atmosphere. The release of biogas may be associated with odour nuisance, contributes to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and is a waste of potentially useful energy. The aim of this study was to measure the seasonal variation in quantity and quality of biogas produced by an anaerobic pond at a piggery (8000 pigs) and a dairy farm (700 cows). Biogas was captured on the surface of each anaerobic pond using a floating 25 m2 polypropylene cover. Biogas production was continually monitored and composition was analysed monthly. Annual average biogas (methane) production rates from the piggery and dairy farm anaerobic ponds were 0.84 (0.62) m3/m2.day and 0.032 (0.026) m3/m2.day, respectively. Average CH4 content of the piggery and dairy farm biogas was high (74% and 82%, respectively) due to partial scrubbing of CO2 within the pond water. The average daily volume of methane gas that could potentially be captured by completely covering the surface of the piggery and dairy farm anaerobic ponds was calculated as ~550 m3/day and ~45 m3/day, respectively (assuming that the areal methane production rate was uniform across the pond surface). Conversion of this methane to electricity would generate 1650 kWh/day and 135 kWh/day, respectively (with potentially 1.5 times these values co-generated as heat) and reduce GHG emissions by 8.27 t CO2 equivalents/day and 0.68 t CO2 equivalents/day, respectively. These preliminary results suggest that conventional anaerobic ponds in New Zealand may release considerable amounts of methane and could be a more significant point source of GHG emissions than previously estimated. Further studies of pond GHG emissions are required to accurately assess the contribution of wastewater treatment ponds to New Zealand’s total GHG emissions.